


Changing the Future

by shannon730 (Shannon)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drama, Gen, Other, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-20
Updated: 2007-10-20
Packaged: 2018-10-01 13:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10191290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shannon/pseuds/shannon730
Summary: Can Snape use information from the future to change his destiny. Written for Snape_after_dh, with the prompt Hermione's Time Turner





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HP Fandom](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HP_Fandom_\(archive\)), which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HP Fandom collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hpfandom/profile).

She ran into the deserted headmaster's office and dumped her bag out onto the desk; she had to find it. When she had packed back in June to go to the Weasley's, she had happened on it, but she almost left it behind. She had forgotten she even had it, had even sworn she had returned it to Professor McGonagall years ago, and that it had been destroyed with the others at the Ministry two years ago. But then she had decided leaving it behind was dangerous. She had sent her parents away, but that didn't guarantee that Death Eaters wouldn't show up looking for her or for them anyway, and if it fell into the wrong hands…

Now she was glad she had saved it. She had promised herself she'd never use it. It was wrong to change the past because you could never really be certain of the outcome; that had been drilled into her head when she was granted permission to use it back in her third year. And she had only used it once to change the past, but that was with Dumbledore's permission. Since then she had respected the rules, and not used it outside of the approved times for school. Now she had learned so many new things, things that changed everything she believed. She couldn't save everyone from their fate really; it wasn't even possible. There was a war, some people had to die, even her friends. But she did have a chance to save one person, maybe. If she was careful, she could save the one person who had proven himself as much a hero as Harry in this whole thing. The one person who had died for all the wrong reasons; the one that had never been recognized for the sacrifices he'd made in the last seventeen years. 

Of course, she realized, this all depended greatly on his listening to her. Believing her. On his caring that was going to die. She knew there was a chance that he _wouldn't_ care. That he'd ignore her, throw her out of his office, and go to his death anyway. She knew that could happen, but decided she had to try. 

She lifted the small hourglass on a chain and took a deep breath. This had to work. She put the chain around her neck and held the hourglass in her hand. She had to choose the right moment. Too soon and she could be caught by a Carrow, too late and he'd have left the castle and she'd have no way of finding him. Deciding on what was probably the right moment, she quickly turned the time turner and felt herself falling away. 

~!~!~!~!~  
"Arrogant fool," Snape muttered. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. How was he supposed to keep the boy safe if he insisted on constantly putting himself in the line of fire? Surely he must realize that the second he disappeared from Malfoy Manor, Voldemort was notified, and they'd be expecting him at the school any time. Potter must have been aware that Voldemort would realize he'd eventually come here looking for the key to destroying him. Or Granger should've figured it out, he thought; Potter and Weasley always tended to act without thinking. 

He opened his eyes when he heard something fall from the table on the other side of the room. His eyes widened in shock, which he tried to hide. "Miss Granger? You shouldn't be here."

"I'm not," she answered, then held out the small silver hour glass for him to see. "Not really, and I don't have much time."

"Is that a Time Turner?" It couldn’t be, how could she possibly have gotten her hands on one. They were all destroyed two years ago. 

"Well, yes. It seems I didn't turn it in back in third year," she answered. "It doesn't matter though, does it, Sir? You're going to die tonight. Voldemort is going to kill you because he thinks you are the new owner of Dumbledore's wand. You aren't of course, Draco is, but he…it's what he thinks."

"Why are you telling me this, Miss Granger?" He snapped, "Do you want to make sure then when Potter wins I can be imprisoned and tortured?"

"No. I…we know you didn't do it. Or you did, but that he wanted you to do it. We know everything. About Harry's mum, about why you became a spy, and Dumbledore's death, and taking over the school, and that you gave Harry the sword. We know all of it."

Snape's eyes narrowed. No one but he and Dumbledore knew those things. How could these children have found out all of that? He had known she wasn't lying about his death, there was no reason to lie about it, but even he had only recently learned of the importance of Dumbledore's wand. "How do you know all of this?" 

"From you," she explained quickly. "You…before you died you gave Harry some memories and he found the pensieve and he saw how you met his mum, and the way his father treated you, and why you two stopped being friends, and how you tried to save her from Voldemort, warned Dumbledore, how Dumbledore made you do things…how you gave us the sword, and that he had to die. Harry knows all of it."

He had given Potter those memories. Memories of Lily? Of Dumbledore? "And what exactly do you want me to do with this information?"

"Well, I don’t know precisely," she admitted quietly. "I just know that there must be a way for you to stop him from killing you." 

"Tell me what happens before my death, what leads up to it," he said. Maybe she was right, maybe there was a way to avoid the inevitable. A way to prevent Voldemort from killing him, but for that to happen he had to know exactly the events which led to his death. 

~!~!~!~!~

"It is I," he said, stepping from behind the suit of armor. He had just found the Carrows, imperio'd and hanging from the ceiling outside the Ravenclaw House entrance. Giving him just enough time to make sure they were secure before going in search of Minerva and Potter. 

He had hoped for the chance to talk to Minerva, to make her understand, but the wand in her hand and the look on her face gave him no hope of this fight not happening exactly as Miss Granger had told him it would. "Where are the Carrows?"

He barely heard her answer, he was more concerned with figuring out where Potter and Lovegood were hiding under that damn cloak that had caused him nothing but problems since his own school days. "I was under the impression that Alecto had apprehended an intruder." 

"Really? And what gave you that impression?"

Why did she have to do this, for nearly eighteen years he had tried to earn her trust, to earn everyone's trust, yet neither she nor the others even tried to see that things may not be as they seemed. "Have you seen Harry Potter, Minerva? Because if you have I must insist—"

He knew she wouldn't tell him. He knew exactly what she'd think. Justifiably, he supposed. But what he hadn't expected was the quickness with which she attacked him. He was barely able to get his shield charm up in time. He briefly regretted the speed and vehemence with which he cast the charm; he hadn't intended to hurt her but he saw her stumble back. He barely had time to recover when a ring of fire surrounded him. He turned it into a serpent, but before he could do anything more, it turned into a puff of smoke and quickly from there into daggers coming straight for him. Pointing his wand at the suit of armor, it landed in front of him just in time to for him to hear the daggers sinking into the metal. 

Next thing he knew, the other teachers had joined Minerva and he saw Flitwick's wand raised. Before he could move from his position behind the armor, he found himself being crushed by its arm. Finally flinging it away from him, he ran into a classroom and without looking back, he jumped from the window. He could hear McGonagall yelling "Coward," as he silently cast the charm to allow him to fly away from the school. 

Before he left though, he made a slight detour back to a classroom near Ravenclaw House. He needed one more thing if he had any chance of surviving this night. 

~!~!~!~!~  
He flexed his arm as the burning sensation increased. The Dark Lord wanted to see him. He looked at his watch; it was the time Granger had told him it would be. This was really the moment of reckoning for him. He hadn't had much time to plan, just a few minutes following her explanation of how his death had occurred. 

While she had been shocked that Voldemort could so easily kill one who he thought was a loyal follower, he held no such illusions. He was not in the least surprised to find out that Voldemort would kill him to gain a wand that he believed would make him invincible. He wasn't even surprised at the way he died. Voldemort's attachment to that snake was frightening at times and it was hardly the first time it had been used as a murder weapon.

There was no point in putting this off any longer, so he grabbed the phial from the table and turned his attention to the seemingly unconscious man in the corner. Part of him felt a twinge of guilt at sending a man to his death against his will. But then the other part of him reminded him about the sheer number of innocent people Amycus Carrow has killed over the years, people who had done nothing but be born without magic, or into a muggle family. That thought quickly squashed the guilt he was feeling. This was what had to be done, and it would ensure that one less Death Eater would be around to protect Voldemort in the final battle. 

He pointed his wand at the Carrow and watched his eyes pop open and stare at him for several seconds before he began struggling to get out of his bonds. "Don't bother, you won't be in them for long," Severus said quietly as he knelt next to him. 

"Severus," Amycus sputtered, "What's going on? What are you doing?" 

"You need to drink this," he said, holding up the small bottle. "Don't make me have to imperio you any sooner than necessary."

He really didn’t want to imperio him this soon. The longer someone was under the harder it was to maintain the curse, especially from a distance, and he simply would not be able to get as close as was advisable to maintain the spell when forcing Amycus to do something so foreign to his nature. 

"What is it?" Amycus asked nervously, "Why are you doing this? The Dark Lord…"

"The Dark Lord wants to kill me," he snapped, "I'm not going to let that happen. I'm afraid you'll have to take my place." 

"But I…"

"Imperio," he said, pointing his wand at the man. Then pointing it again at the ropes binding him, they fell away, freeing Amycus to sit up. "Now drink this." 

He watched as the potion was swallowed and he was quickly faced with an identical copy of himself. The last step to the transformation was clothing. He pointed his wand once again at Carrow and hoped he was able to do this sufficiently. Transfiguration was never one of his stronger talents. Once satisfied with the results, he said, "Now, you are to apparate to the Shrieking Shack and convince the Dark Lord that you are me." 

He watched as Amycus Carrow apparated to his death. He quickly drank another phial, this one filled with a potion to temporarily make him invisible before following Carrow to the Shrieking Shack, only he made sure to appear outside. He might be invisible, but he was not willing to chance Voldemort sensing his presence. 

~!~!~!~!~  
He could see the snake in floating in its magical enclosure; waiting. He could see Amycus begging to be allowed to find Potter and bring him to Voldemort. Begging for another chance. 

"Why doesn’t it work for me?" Voldemort asked. 

He heard the reassuring words from Amycus. They wouldn’t work though, he would've known that even without Miss Granger's information. Voldemort wasn't asking the question for praise, he was making a point. "I have performed my usual magic. I am extraordinary, but this wand…no. It has not revealed the wonders it has promised. I feel no difference between this wand and the one I procured from Ollivander all those years ago."

He listened as Voldemort lamented the lack of power this wand, Dumbledore's wand, was affording him. He listened as Amycus pleaded with Voldemort for what he was sure Amycus now realized was his life. He listened as Voldemort explained his reasons for what was about to happen. Then he watched in silent horror as the snake was released and attacked the man who currently shared his face. He watched as Voldemort left the shack to go in search of new ways to destroy Harry Potter. 

Then he saw Potter, Granger, and Weasley lean over the body. He could see the tears in Granger's eyes as they watched 'him' die.   
"He's only getting what he deserves, isn't he?" Asked Weasley. "He killed Dumbledore, and has been torturing students all term."

"Wait," Granger whispered, holding out a small bottle. "Harry you need to take this." 

"What is it?" 

"Snape's memories," she said. "Look. All I know is I showed up a little while ago, with a time turner, gave myself this bottle and said it was Snape's memories and that I should give them to you at the right time."

"Uh, look," Weasley said(,) pointing at the body on the ground. 

Time for him to go, the potion had worn off and if Potter saw him before he saw the memories, it would not be long before things went horribly wrong. So he turned and ran from the shack, apparating away when he reached the Hogs Head.

~!~!~!~!~!~

He was going to just leave, but he had to know that Voldemort was dead. If Potter failed to figure out what he had to do…or someone else failed to step in after Potter's death, he would've gone through all of this for nothing, So he apparated back to Hogsmeade and made his way through the forest to the school. He quickly swallowed the last of the invisibility potion as he crept into the Great Hall in time to see Bellatrix battling Granger, the Weasley girl, and Lovegood. He raised his wand as he saw the sparks from a killing curse barely miss the Weasley girl, but before he could do anything, he heard Molly Weasley shout, "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH," and join the battle herself. 

That's when his eyes fell on Voldemort battling Kingsley, McGonagall, and Slughorn. Then he saw Potter, and saw Voldemort see Potter. He watched in silence as Potter told Voldemort what he had learned in the pensieve. He watched as Voldemort tried to cast the killing curse, watched as it once again backfired on him. He watched as the Dark Lord fell and Death Eaters tried to flee. It all seemed to have happened so fast, yet he could feel the potion wearing off. He needed to leave. Voldemort was dead, Potter was alive and had cleared his name, but he couldn't stay here. Maybe one day he would return, but for now, he needed to leave. He needed to let people heal. Or maybe he'd never return. All he was sure of was that right now this wasn’t where he belonged. 

~!~!~!~!~

Hermione took the envelope from the owl and fed it a small treat before it flew away. She frowned at the writing on the front; it was familiar but she was finding it hard to place. She was at the Burrow once again, only a month after Voldemort's fall... She had gone and brought her parents home but so many had died in the final battle that she had returned to the Burrow so it would be easier to attend the many memorials and funerals in the coming weeks. 

She pulled open the envelope and smiled slightly. 

__

Miss Granger,  
I want to thank you for what you did for me.   
I thought you should know that I am alive.   
I know that Potter defeated Voldemort and cleared my name,  
I may one day return but as of now, I just wanted you to know   
that I am alive and grateful. 

Severus Snape

She had to admit it wasn’t expected but she was glad for it nonetheless. When he hadn't appeared in the days following Voldemort's death, she had worried that her risk hadn't been worth it and that he had been killed some other way - perhaps in the crossfire or by a Death Eater, or even an Order member before Harry had told anyone what he had learned. She let the relief wash over her as she went in search of the others. 


End file.
